Boy, it's a lot easier to write about a scintillating life in the kitchen when you have one. Case in point, with the big guy away I haven't had much of an excuse to try recipes. I know, I know - I said earlier it shouldn't make a difference if you have an audience or not, but hey I lied. It does. I've run out of steam, so last night I had left over chicken. Since I can't write about that again, I will share one of my absolute favorite desserts - Summer Pudding.
We can thank the Brits for this one - AGAIN. They've come up with a ton of absolutely wonderful desserts, and this is one of the best if not the easiest and "coolest" to make. Fresh berries of almost any kind and description are combined with sugar and warmed just till they let go of their juicy goodness. Add a shot of orange liquor (or kirsch), a loaf of good bread preferably a tad stale because it absorbs the juices better, some time and you've got an absolutely stellar dessert. Time - oh yes, you do have to plan ahead for this one because it needs a good 24 hours in the refrigerator before serving, but the wait is worth it believe me.
When I say stellar, I do mean stellar. It's light and tart and airy. The flavor of the berries sings. The texture is amazing and served with a little whipped cream on the side, I could eat the whole darn thing. Don't stop with dinner either. This could very easily replace the old standard toast and jam for breakfast - now wouldn't that just blow your socks off? What a great way to get your vitamins.
I've attached my recipe that calls for strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, but honestly just use it as a guideline and create your own. Download Summer Berry Pudding Add some red currents if you want a little tartness and forget the strawberries if you wish. The point is, you can make it out of whatever berries you have on hand - in fact, I've even used frozen wild blueberries from Trader Joe's in combination with fresh and it's just as delicious.
By the way, if you're planning to serve it at a buffet and you're worried that it will "weep" all over your table, add a half package of unflavored gelatin to the sugar, water, strawberry mixture and that'll take care of that. Been there, done that.
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